Dear Friends wherever,We're in the lead-up to Good Friday and then Easter. For the Christian, all roads lead, not to Rome, but to the Cross. For it is the Cross above all that stops us from making the Christian faith into something pretty nice. Often worn as a fashion accessory, it's of course really a symbol of torture, punishment and death. And we need to remind ourselves of that frequently to stop ourselves getting blasé about what Jesus went through. Why He had to do it and how it brings about our forgiveness is beyond any of us really to understand, but for Christians, knowing that our God did this for US must make us marvel.

I find that I have to keep coming back to Jesus on the Cross, with my name printed on his forehead, as it were. It's that, that enables me to claim God's forgiveness with confidence; and it's through looking at Him on the Cross that I find renewed strength and hope. If my God could do that for me, then I can face anything, with his help. That lifts me up when I am tired or fed-up, or just struggling with all that life throws at us.

Best wishes to you as you mark Good Friday and then celebrate Easter Day.